Pre-election season in the Faculty of Engineering🍽️

Dearest Gentle Rea-

Nahh, I'm just kidding😂

Unlike final year week, pre-election season isn't all vibes and parties. It's about politics! It's about scandals! It's about deciding which of your 2 friends running for office you are going to betray for the other!!!

Most importantly, it's about cooking up a campaign so good that you know that people are going to feast well on it. Shoutout to the people who are being creative with their campaigns. You guys are winning my heart. 

But guess who else cooked a little something for you guys?🔥

We prepared a little bit of a juicy gist from the tech industry that you can enjoy before getting ready for Monday. 

You ready? Let's dive in. 

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Something impressive recently occurred in Nigeria’s tech industry. Actually, this affects all of Africa. The first robotics manufacturing factory in Africa was opened in Abuja 2 weeks ago! And guess what? The founder is a 21-year-old who dropped out of YabaTech. Terrahaptix opened a 15,000 sqft factory that is supposedly capable of 5,000 units annually. They have various products from UAVs, UGVs (Unmanned Ground Vehicles), and sentry towers. Currently, their 3 flagship products are: 

1. Archer UAV (a drone that can carry up to 15kg, with a range of 120km, a 4hr battery life, and a 4k camera)

2. Duma ground robot (that can carry 500 - 1000kg payload)

3. Kallon sentry tower (a solar-powered sentry tower that can detect and recognize up to 20 km in 4k). 

Impressive right? They also have about $700k in revenue and $10M in LOIs (non-binding Letters Of Intent). They have already begun shipping their products to Nigerian and Ghanaian clients, and with more products in development, it looks to be a very promising start-up. 

2. The Mother of All Breaches (MOAB)

Now while there have been several positive developments, a number of negative developments have happened this year too. With advancements in technology, cybersecurity breaches have gotten much worse. In May, the British government discovered that the payroll system of the UK armed forces had been hacked. The personal data of nearly 270,000 current and former staff (identities, bank details, and in some cases even national insurance details and addresses) was exposed. But the largest breach of the year was in January. And it was the mother of all breaches. 

26 billion records got leaked—12 terabytes of user data from 3,876 domains. There was user data from X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, Weibo, Twitter, Adobe, and even some government organizations around the world. And this leaked data contained both login credentials as well as more potentially sensitive data. The dataset was held by the data breach search engine Leak-Lookup, which blamed a “firewall misconfiguration” for the leak. 

Lesson of the day? You can never be too careful with cybersecurity. Go the extra mile to secure your data. 

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This far in the newsletter, I haven’t mentioned our exams. I guess I am still in denial about how close it is. Nevertheless, I will share some productivity tips to help you make the most of the 17 days you have left before your first paper.

1. Prioritize Tasks:

Identify and rank your courses and topics based on difficulty and importance. Focus on high-priority tasks first to ensure the most critical material is covered. Which is shorter? Which is easier? Which lecturer is guaranteed to set a trap for us? 

2. Create a Study Schedule:

Break down your study time into manageable chunks and assign specific times for each subject. Use tools like Google Calendar or dedicated study apps to keep track of your schedule. Limited time means that you need to read, and understand quickly

3. Use the Pomodoro Technique:

While we are reading quickly, there are techniques that can boost your productivity. Study for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break. Repeat this cycle four times before taking a longer break. This method helps maintain focus and prevents burnout.

4. Active Learning Techniques:

Engage with the material through summarization, questioning, and teaching concepts to someone else. Use flashcards, mind maps, and practice quizzes to reinforce learning. In the words of a wise man, “If you didn’t write it down, what makes you think you will remember?😂”

5. Eliminate Distractions:

Find a quiet and comfortable study environment. Use apps like Forest or Freedom to block distracting websites and notifications. You would be surprised what you can achieve if you give your undivided attention.

6. Stay Organized:

Keep your study materials, notes, and textbooks organized. Use tools like Evernote or OneNote for digital note-taking and organization. We don’t want to keep fumbling between study materials looking for one particular definition, do we?

7. Leverage Technology:

There are a large number of practice questions online. Utilize educational apps and online resources such as Khan Academy, Coursera, or Quizlet for additional learning and practice. YouTube is still one of your best resources even though “Companies of all sizes use BigQuery. Find out what’s hiding in your … ”

8. Join Study Groups:

Collaborate with classmates to share notes, quiz each other, and explain difficult concepts. There is just so much you can achieve alone. Have your small academic cult. (Wo)Men you trust

9. Take Care of Your Health:

Ensure you get enough sleep, eat healthy meals, and take regular breaks to avoid burnout. There’s no point reading if you burn out before the exam. Take a walk. Stretch your legs. And ease up on the energy drinks. You are not in the jungle. Leave Predator alone. 

10. Seek Help When Needed:

Tutorials and fellow students can go a long way in helping you learn. Leave all the “Scholar, you sabi book pass me” for after the exam, please. And remember: teaching is the best way to reinforce what you learned.

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Well, it has been a long semester. And I’m glad we went through it together. I am sure that the next time you hear from me, we will be free men! Whether you are preparing your project for submission or preparing for examinations, I will leave you with a little bit of motivation:

“To succeed, you must first fail at failing, then not fail to succeed at your task” - Nobody Ever (N. E. )

See you on the other side, mate. 

Yours in perpetual denial, 

Sergeant Mike of Dubbing Center.